Kitchen Considerations: Appliance Garages

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Discover how custom appliance garages bring beauty, function, and personalization to your kitchen. Learn how MAK Design + Build integrates these smart storage features into kitchens that support your daily rituals — from coffee to baking and beyond.

The Art of Hiding in Plain Sight

A beautiful kitchen isn’t just about finishes — it’s about how your space works for you. From morning coffee rituals to late-night baking marathons, thoughtful storage makes every routine feel effortless. One of our favorite ways to keep a kitchen both functional and visually calm is with the appliance garage — a clever design feature that stores your everyday gadgets out of sight but always within reach.

“Appliance garages help preserve the clean lines of your kitchen while keeping your most-used tools organized and accessible.”

What Is an Appliance Garage?

An appliance garage is a dedicated, built-in storage nook designed to house small kitchen appliances — like coffee makers, blenders, and toasters — behind closed cabinetry. By tucking these items away, you maintain the aesthetic flow of your kitchen while keeping everything you need close at hand.

Appliance garages can be customized with a variety of door styles, from swing-outs and lift-ups to roll-tops and retractable panels. When planning one, it’s important to take inventory of your appliances, noting their sizes and how often you use them. You’ll also want to leave enough countertop space in front of the garage to safely operate appliances that produce heat or steam.

Can You Have More Than One Appliance Garage?

Absolutely! In fact, we encourage it. Appliance garages are versatile by nature, allowing you to create multiple dedicated zones tailored to your lifestyle.

Many MAK clients, for example, love a coffee and tea nook — a counter-level alcove complete with an espresso machine, electric kettle, and a curated display of favorite mugs, blends, and accessories. Everything you need for your morning ritual is right there — and when you’re done, simply close the doors and reclaim your serene, uncluttered kitchen.

For couples or families with diverse kitchen habits, additional appliance garages can be a game-changer. A baking station, for instance, could live near the pantry, housing a stand mixer, food processor, and kitchen scale — minimizing the need to carry ingredients across the kitchen. Others may choose to dedicate one just for the microwave, keeping it at counter height for both safety and accessibility.

“With thoughtful placement, appliance garages turn your daily routines into intuitive design zones.”

Will Multiple Appliance Garages Look Strange?

Not at all. In fact, they can enhance your kitchen’s overall design. Depending on your aesthetic and cabinetry style, appliance garages can be completely hidden for a seamless, modern look, or designed as intentional focal points using accent materials, colors, or textures.

Some clients prefer appliance garages that disappear into the cabinetry line — others use them to introduce warmth or contrast through wood tones or custom finishes. Either way, they integrate beautifully into the rhythm of your kitchen design.

Designing Your Perfect Appliance Garage

A few key considerations to guide your planning:

Appliance inventory: Take note of everything you want to store and their dimensions.
Power access: Ensure enough outlets inside or adjacent to the garage.
Ventilation: Allow for airflow, especially for appliances that produce heat.
Workflow: Place your appliance garages near zones of related activity — like a coffee nook near the sink, or a baking station near the pantry.

When designed intentionally, appliance garages keep your counters clear, your routines organized, and your kitchen visually harmonious.

The MAK Design + Build Touch

At MAK, we believe great design lives in the details. Appliance garages may be small features, but they exemplify how thoughtful customization can elevate your daily life. By integrating your unique habits and tools into your cabinetry layout, we create kitchens that are as practical as they are beautiful — spaces where everything has its place, and every detail serves a purpose.

“It’s not just storage — it’s design that supports the way you live.”

Matt Karnatz, MAK’s Sites Supervisor, has 35+ years of experience in residential remodeling and has been a leader of MAK’s Production team for 10 years. As a former Marine, Matt brings a sense of dedication, organization, and discipline to every project. With his wealth of experience, there’s no construction issue that Matt can’t solve!

Can I remove a load-bearing wall to create a more open layout?
Yes, there are always engineering solutions to remove a load-bearing wall. Load-bearing walls support ceiling joists and tie into the roof framing. During construction, we will build temporary walls to support the ceiling and roof, then demo the existing wall and install a beam in its place. At MAK, our production team works with the project designers to determine structural solutions as the design is developed.
I want to add space. Is it better to add a second story or push out with an addition? Building a second story is doable but requires removing the roof structure and often adding to the existing foundation. These additional structural requirements can get complicated. Building an addition at ground level is much simpler logistically and often less expensive.
Can I live in my home throughout construction?
Of course, you can. As long as you have a working bathroom in the house, you can live in it during construction. We will work with you to set up a temporary kitchen if necessary. We’ll put up barriers to isolate the areas of work. We even have air scrubbers to pull in fine dust. But even the “cleanest” jobsite is going to be dusty, loud, and more open to the elements. If you are thinking of a large-scale project, it is often worth it to budget for temporary housing during construction. Either way, we’ll get you through so you can enjoy your beautiful new space.
What’s the worst thing you’ve seen when you got inside the walls of an existing house?
We see all kinds of scary things: electrical wiring that’s barely capped, ridge beams or structural supports that have been cut through or had notches cut out, flimsy timbers, mold, dry rot. You can definitely see where someone cut corners (sometimes literally) or just didn’t know what they were doing. You see this more in older homes or where unpermitted work has been done.